The La Orotava garden was born from the concern to acclimatise new species coming from America. It owes its existence to the personal support and money invested by the Marquis of Villanueva del Prado, commissioned by the Crown between 1788 and 1832. The garden had a splendid period in the middle of the 19^th century with the gardener Germán Widpret and, since 1941 when it came into the hands of the Institute for Agronomic Research, great scientific work has been carried out there. In it can be found more than 3,000 species, basically of Canary Island flora and some very spectacular exotic species, like coussapoa dealbata, with extremely long aerial roots.